Posts Written OnJuly 2017

Zelda: An Adventure Worth Taking Zelda Breath of the Wild (BotW) puts you into the wild world of Hyrule as Link: An intrepid adventurer called upon to defeat the evil forces of Ganon. With the help of mythical creatures, special powers, and amazing weaponry (master sword and glider included), Link must solve puzzles and overcome obstacles to save the day. Parent Approved Hero: 9/10 The protagonist (Link) is a famous hero who has historically fought against evil. Link’s motivation is solid: Save the planet from unmitigated evil. Protect those who can’t protect themselves. Problem solving is key. Very few fights…

Zelda: An Epic Adventure Zelda: Breath of the Wild (BotW) is a massive open-world action-adventure game that puts you in control of a daring hero (Link) who sets out to save the world from certain destruction. The Zelda franchise has been active since 1986 and is known for: Epic adventures: Free roaming fun Creative challenges: Lots of puzzles, use of tools and problem solving Engaging their audience: You feel like you are part of the story It’s not every day you sell 86 million of your game. A Classic Adventure Zelda BoTW starts much like it’s predecessor 30 years ago: Link is…

Technology Addiction is Real In one of the most advanced, free, wealthy and educated nations on the planet we are actively creating new ways to become addicted. Technology addiction is most often associated with social media, video games, and personal electronics. It does include television, although this is more and more through phones and other devices, so the t.v. centric conversation is dwindling. 3 truths to know about technology addiction 1. Choices are the problem There is a growing body of research showing us that technology is not the problem. We are actively training our brains to need video games…

What Makes a Great Board Game? The most important part of selecting a good board game: Know your audience. When choosing a game you need to know who will be playing. A great game or six year olds may be incredibly boring for a group of junior higher. Also, simply being someone’s “favorite game ever” isn’t enough. Brain Food Think of great board games like food for your brain: When choosing real food, there is no single dish that everyone will like. Tastes differ even among the most experienced eaters. Same with games. Two veteran board gamers may like completely…

Finding a Great Book It can be tough to choose a great book. Do we look at the cover? Go off what our friends like? What if we simply hate reading? Learning how to choose books that engage us and challenge is us more than just what we do with our free time. It’s part of growing up and learning who we are. “But I Hate Reading” As a junior high English teacher I run into this all the time: I walk into the library with my class, introduce a genre and set the students loose to find something great.…

DOOM is Not Worth The Journey DOOM (2016) is part first-person shooter, part survival-horror. You play as a space marine stranded on Mars. A portal has been opened to hell and you are the only one who can stop it. The game’s tagline is “Fight like hell”. I’ve said elsewhere that DOOM is a one-trick pony. The goal is to kill a variety of demons and purge the evil from this reality. Of course, this can only be done through incredibly intense and graphic violence. The Verdict: Skip It Parent Approved Hero: 2/10 Your hero fights for what he believes is good.…

The Halo Effect First Person Shooters (FPS) are controversial. I’ve talked about how parents fear them and given a crash course introduction to First Person Shooters. Now I want to take you into the mind of an FPS gamer and what I call the Halo Effect. A Mind on Halo When Halo came out fifteen years ago it was mind-blowing. It had an incredible hero, combat that left you jittery it was so exciting, and graphics that were cutting-edge. Master Chief is a perfect spot to start when we look at how an FPS can be engaging. I’m going old school…

It’s easy to say that the Nintendo Switch represents the best of gaming. It’s portable, there are great games, it has engaging graphics, you don’t have to quit just because you’re moving locations. Yet not all of these points are good. Nintendo Switch: The Worst of gaming. Go back to the launch trailer and watch from :30 – :45 again. I’ve quick-linked it here so it will start at 30 seconds. Notice anything? Let’s take a moment to reflect: Dog walks up to owner asking for attention. Guy dutifully stands, pulls his gaming device from it’s holder, and saunters out into…